The Best Financial Books for Beginners

If you’re hoping to gain better control over your personal finances and manage your money more effectively, you might be feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the volume of information out there. Money can be a stressful topic and sometimes it can seem easier to simply ignore your financial woes and continue as you are; with overhanging debts, very little by way of savings, and extensive outgoings.

The following books will show you that financial management does not need to be as stressful and anxiety-inducing as many of us believe. There are a number of excellent books out there giving great advice to those who are looking to regain control of their finances and improve their overall financial situation.

With such a broad range of literature, there is bound to be something to fit everyone’s lifestyle and goals. Here are a few of the best options.

Best Financial Books for Beginners

1. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and is a New York Times Bestseller. A well-known finance coach, Dave Ramsey has collated some of his best advice and specialist tips to devise one game-changing plan that allows readers to take control of their finances and increase their overall stability and wealth.

In The Total Money Makeover, you’ll find advice and guidance on how to pay off all of your existing debts and increase your savings for a financially secure future. Ramsey’s advice is based on results and he takes a no-holds-barred, straight-talking approach to finances. His clear-cut demeanor is largely responsible for the book’s success. He quickly dispels common money myths and what he refers to as ‘pie-in-the-sky fantasies’ when it comes to personal finance. Instead, focusing on results-driven formulas and clear planning to improve your financial situation.

As a bestselling author and host of The Dave Ramsey Show, Ramsey has built up an impressive following of avid listeners and readers. He holds almost thirty years of experience in assisting people with their finances and reducing their overhanging debts.

This is a great book for those who wish to get straight to the point and follow a clear plan to financial stability.

2. Million Dollar Habits by Brian Tracy

In Million Dollar Habits, Brian Tracy takes a very different approach to that of Dave Ramsey. Tracy asks readers to take a more introspective outlook on handling their finances. He focuses on human habits and retraining the mind to replace ineffective, detrimental habits with new ones that can result in many positive changes both financially and in other aspects of the reader’s life.

That’s not to say that Tracy’s approach isn’t equally as directive and straightforward as Ramsey’s. Tracy gives the reader the tools and information to develop the common habits of successful men and women, allowing them to make better life decisions as a result. By following this guide and implementing these new habits and behaviors into your life, Tracy claims that you could in fact triple your current income.

Brian Tracy has an impressive resume, as CEO of Brian Tracy International he has assisted a huge number of companies and professionals to develop successful financial plans and programs.  He has worked extensively as a business consultant and keynote speaker, as well as being the author of more than 45 books and hundreds of audio and visual learning resources.

In Million Dollar Habits, Tracy provides a great insight into what he believes has lead to his own success and the success of many others.

3. Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties by Beth Kobliner

Beth Kobliner is a personal finance journalist and author of a number of bestselling finance books. She specializes in the finances of young adults and was selected by President Barack Obama to sit on his Advisory Council for Financial Capability for Young Americans. Kobliner is also a former writer for Money Magazine and has written for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Get a Financial Life is a New York Times Bestseller and has been referred to as a ‘financial bible’ for those in their twenties and thirties. The book is designed to give guidance to those who are looking to get their financial lives in order in a time where most twenty to thirty-yea-olds have substantial student debts and face extremely high living costs that seem to be rising by the day.

In this updated edition, Kobliner provides even more useful insight into the world of personal finance, giving realistic, actionable advice to her readers that will allow them to develop healthy financial habits and effectively manage their money.

If you’re in your twenties or thirties and are hoping to reduce the debts that are hanging over your head, avoid common money mistakes, and learn how to keep control of your finances, this could be an excellent read.

4. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki 

What do the rich teach their children about money, that the poor do not? Apparently – a lot. In Rich Dad Poor Dad Robert Kiyosaki recounts his life experience growing up with two fathers – his biological father and the father of his best friend – one rich and one not. He reflects on the ways each of these men shaped his outlook on finances and his subsequent financial success.

This book was first published more than twenty years ago and has received significant critical acclaim, selling millions of copies worldwide and being translated into a number of different languages.

Kiyosaki dispels the notion that you must have a high-earning job to become wealthy, arguing that the key is to make your money work for you, rather than working endlessly for money. This 20^th-anniversary edition is interesting in that it allows both Kiyosaki and his readers to reflect on how the messages conveyed to him by his rich father continue to stand the test of time and may even be more relevant now than at the initial time or writing.

The book is insightful and introspective while still giving plenty of advice and information that can be extrapolated and implemented into the reader’s daily life. Kiyosaki’s writing style is extremely engaging and he provides some excellent beginner advice when it comes to personal finance.

5. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko

The Millionaire Next Door tells us that the flashy, high-spending millionaires we see so often on TV and in the media are in fact but a tiny proportion of America’s uber-wealthy. The majority of rich Americans, Stanley and Danko argue, don’t live in Beverley Hills or Park Avenue, they live right next door.

For almost twenty-years, Americans have found answers to their personal finance questions in Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko’s The Millionaire Next Door. People often wonder why, despite their well-paid jobs and respectable education, they’re not as wealthy as they feel they should be. Here, Stanley and Danko argue that this is primarily down to their spending habits. They outline the methods used by millionaires to accrue wealth without over-spending; keeping incomes high and outgoings low.

If you’re looking for a personal finance book that focuses more on real-world habits and advice than on confusing financial terminology and get-rich-quick schemes, this could be a great book to start out with. Between them, Stanley and Danko have a huge wealth of knowledge and expertise in personal finance and this newly published 20^th-anniversary edition comes with an added foreword on how the advice laid out in the book can be implemented just as effectively in today’s society.

6. The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach 

David Bach is a notable author in the personal finance field. He currently has ten consecutive bestselling books to his name and The Automatic Millionaire alone has sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide. In the book, Bach provides an insightful look at what he claims to be the inside secrets and systems that can allow anyone to get rich.

He disputes the need for strict budgets and willpower and instead argues that the single most important thing anyone can do when it comes to managing their finances and increasing their wealth is to automate their finances and prioritize their spending effectively but not stringently.

Bach’s ideas are fairly simple and extremely digestible. He offers new perspectives on finances and having them laid out in such a comprehensive and easy-to-follow guide makes understanding personal finances accessible to all. He gives a number of different real-world scenarios showing examples of how his advice should be used and how effective it can be.

Adopting Bach’s outlook and guidance early in your personal finance journey is a great way of adjusting your own mindset and achieving financial security without making any of the common mistakes people so often run into. 

7. Spend Well, Live Rich by Michelle Singletary 

As well as having a number of successful published books in her back catalog, Michelle Singletary is a popular columnist for The Washington Post. Her column ‘The Color of Money’ is read around the world and is extremely popular.

In Spend Well, Live Rich, Singletary takes a reflective look at her own history and cites her grandmother as being her greatest financial inspiration. Raising Singletary and her four siblings on a salary below $13,000, Singletary states that her grandmother taught her more about money and personal finance than anyone has since.

In Spend Well, Live Rich, the seven money mantras are laid out for the reader. These include ‘Priorities lead to prosperity’; ‘Cash is better than credit’, and ‘Enough is enough’, to name a few. The mantras lead us into Singletary’s straight-talking advice around saving your money, reducing your debts, and increasing your financial stability.

Singletary’s story is endearing and relatable, she gives real-life, direct advice and doesn’t pepper the pill with too many niceties or financial jargon. It’s easy to see why the book is so popular. Singletary’s style is both charismatic and highly informative. 

8. Worth It: Your Life, Your Money, Your Terms by Amanda Steinberg

Amanda Steinberg is a mogul when it comes to women and money. As CEO of DailyWorth.com, Steinberg has built up a huge following and the site has become the go-to for women interested in personal finance. In Worth It, Steinberg continues her quest for female empowerment by showing women how money should be viewed as a source of power and independence.

Worth It provides readers with all of the insight and information necessary to create financial prosperity and to reduce the stress and anxiety that many feel when it comes to money. Steinberg argues that austerity and strict budgeting is not the answer to all financial strife. Instead, she shares tactics and approaches based on her own first-hand experiences to make money and wealth more relatable and attainable to other women.

This book is extremely powerful and engaging. Steinberg helps her readers to view money differently and strive for the financial freedom and control that this can give them. This is a great option for those who would like to obtain more financial security and affluence, but don’t know where to start or feel that it’s not realistic for them.

9. The Money Manual by Tonya B. Rapley

Tonya Rapley is a well-known consultant and money expert. Possibly best known for being the founder of the Banish the Balance Challenge, through which she helped more than 5,000 people banish over $250,000 worth of debts in less than sixty days. Rapley has appeared in a number of magazines and publications advising people on how to break the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck and finally find financial freedom.

The Money Manual is a beginners’ guide to managing your money. The book teaches readers how to approach financial management without becoming overwhelmed or discouraged, giving simple methods for creating and achieving realistic financial goals. Rapley also tells readers how money can be used as a tool to improve your life rather than to add stress and anxiety. She gives detailed advice on budgeting, saving, and eliminating debts.

After reading the book and implementing the methods and ideas, Rapley claims that you could transform your finances and be on your way to financial well-being within six months. This is a great book for those with significant debts that might seem insurmountable. Rapley’s advice is realistic and the goals she sets out are attainable but effective.

10. Broke Millennial by Erin Lowry

Unsurprisingly, Broke Millennial is targeted at those in their twenties and thirties who feel somewhat mystified by money and overwhelmed by debts and expenses. In this book, Erin Lowry gives a step-by-step guide for going from complete financial despair to financial stability and independence.

Lowry covers the basics such as budgeting, investing wisely, and tackling overhanging debts, but she also goes a step further and gives extensive advice that can be more easily related to her readers’ daily lives. She asks the reader to consider their own relationship with money and covers how to tackle things like student loans without feeling that dread or anxiety.

Lowry’s approach to finances is refreshingly honest and inclusive. Broke Millennial acts as a clear-cut guide to all things money-related.

11. Why Didn’t They Teach Me This in School by Cary Siegel

Cary Siegel has experience as a business executive and knows what he’s talking about when it comes to personal finances. He claims that by following the principles set out in his book Why Didn’t They Teach Me This in School, he was able to retire comfortably at the age of 45.

Siegel details his 99 key principles that will allow anyone to improve their money management skills and their overall financial situation. The principles are practical and digestible. He focuses less on the technical side of money management and more on the every-day habits and advice that will allow his readers to adjust the way they view money and their own relationship with it.

Cary Siegel initially wrote the book to give to his five children as they were coming of age. If it’s advice that he considers good enough to pass on to his own children, it’s likely to be pretty useful!

12. Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez

In Your Money or Your Life, Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez give a nine-step plan to transforming the reader’s relationship with money and obtaining full financial independence. The book was originally published in 2008 and has been revised for the 2018 10-year anniversary edition. Your Money or Your Life is considered one of the most influential finance books of all time and has sold more than a million copies worldwide.

The book shows readers how to eliminate their debts, save more effectively, and invest wisely while living a well-balanced, eco-friendly life. It provides an eclectic mix of practical advice and solutions with more introspective, free-thinking guidance around money and morality.

For beginners, this book gives a clear guide to managing money and might invoke some new ways of thinking about finances.

Conclusion

Being new to personal finance and taking that initial first step to managing your money more effectively can feel extremely overwhelming and unattainable a lot of the time.

By investing in one of these books, you should see that financial security and freedom is absolutely achievable. Each of these books and authors brings a wealth of experience and knowledge that could prove extremely valuable to you on your personal finance journey.